2006
]] '']] '']] '']] '' returns as a comic book published by Slave Labor Graphics.]] '']] opens at Tokyo DisneySea.]] opens at Hong Kong Disneyland.]] Events * May 10 - The Broadway production of ''Tarzan officially opens. * July 7 - Walt Disney Pictures introduced its current logo in front of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. * September 19 - Disney officially enters the Blu-ray market. * October 6 - The Disney Movie Rewards program begins. * November 16 - Following the success of the West End production, a Broadway production of Mary Poppins officially opens. * December 12 - After 21 years, the last Disney movie to use the original Walt Disney Pictures logo was The Fox and the Hound 2. Theatrical releases Feature films * January 13 - Glory Road * January 27 - Roving Mars * February 17 - Eight Below * March 10 - The Shaggy Dog * April 14 - The Wild * April 28 - Stick It (Touchstone Pictures) * June 9 - Cars * July 7 - Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest * August 25 - Invincible * October 20 - **''The Prestige'' (Touchstone Pictures) **''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' (3-D reissue) * November 3 - The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause * December 8 - Apocalypto under Touchstone Pictures. Shorts * June 9 - One Man Band * September 7 - The Little Matchgirl Television * January 20 - High School Musical premiered on the Disney Channel and drew an astonishing 7.8 million viewers for its premiere. * January 27 - The Emperor's New School premiered on the Disney Channel. * March 24 - Hannah Montana premiered on the Disney Channel. * April 9 - It's Time to Wake Up Jeff! premiered on Playhouse Disney. * May 5 - Mickey Mouse Clubhouse premiered on Playhouse Disney. * May 22 - Alias ended its run on ABC. * June 16 - Commander in Chief ended its run on ABC. * July 28 - The Replacements premiered on the Disney Channel. * September 2 - ABC Sports became ESPN on ABC, utilizing ESPN graphics. * September 15 - Bear in the Big Blue House and Breakfast with Bear were cancelled. * September 18 ** Handy Manny premiered on Playhouse Disney. ** Pucca premieres on Jetix. * October 2 - Yin Yang Yo! premieres on Jetix. Comics *June 21 - The first issue of the new Gargoyles comic book by Slave Labor Graphics is published. *November - Gemstone stops publishing Mickey Mouse and Friends and Donald Duck and Friends. Video games * March 28 - Kingdom Hearts II for PlayStation 2 * June 5 - Cars * October 19 - Kim Possible: What's the Switch? for PlayStation 2 Books * March 21 - Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Sea of Monsters * October 3 - Disney Dossiers: Files of Characters From the Walt Disney Studios Theme park happenings * January 23 - Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue! opened at Disney's California Adventure, replacing Superstar Limo. * April 5 - Cinderella Castle Mystery Tour closed at Tokyo Disneyland. * April 7 - Expedition Everest opened at Disney's Animal Kingdom. * April 8 - Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast opened at Disneyland Paris. * July 13 - Autopia, UFO Zone and Stitch Encounter opened at Hong Kong Disneyland. * July 25 - Matt Ouimet stepped down as president of the Disneyland Resort to become president of the Hotel Group of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide. Ed Grier, former executive managing director of Walt Disney Attractions Japan, takes over as president of the Disneyland Resort. * July 31 - Disney announced the demise of the "Sword in the Stone" show at the Magic Kingdom as part of the "Year of a Million Dreams" promotion (it would be replaced by another show called the Royal Court Academy). * August 19 - Who Wants to Be a Millionaire – Play It! closed at the Disney-MGM Studios, almost two years to the day that its California Adventure counterpart closed. * September 16 - Cinderellabration had its final performances at the Magic Kingdom * September 22 - Tower of Terror opened at Tokyo DisneySea. * September 30 ** Disneyland's 50th anniversary celebration ended; Club Buzz at Disneyland reopened as Tomorrowland Terrace. ** Dream Along with Mickey premiered at Magic Kingdom. * October 2 - The Year of a Million Dreams promotion began. Business * January 24 - The Walt Disney Company announced that it would acquire Pixar Animation Studios. As part of the merger, Steve Jobs (the owner of Pixar) became the chief shareholder in the company. Shortly thereafter, the Feature Animation department reopened (having been shut down two years earlier), and John Lasseter was put in charge of Imagineering in the theme parks. * February 9 - The Walt Disney Company regained rights to Oswald the Lucky Rabbit from NBC Universal, as part of a deal which sent sportscaster Al Michaels from Disney's ABC and ESPN to NBC Sports. Home video releases VHS, DVD & Blu-ray releases * January 16 - Jumping Ship * January 17 - The Devil and Max Devlin * February 14 - Grey's Anatomy: The Complete First Season (Touchstone Television) *February 28 - Lady and the Tramp: 50th Anniversary Platinum Edition (DVD) * March 14 - Remember the Titans - Director's Cut * March 21 - **''Howl's Moving Castle'' **''Chicken Little'' * April 4 - The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe * April 11 - ** The Greatest Game Ever Played ** Pooh's Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin: Special Edition * April 12 - Valiant (Disney Movie Club Exclusive VHS) * April 25 - Little Einsteins: Team Up for Adventure * May 16 - ** Con Air: Unrated Extended Edition ** Lady and the Tramp: 50th Anniversary Platinum Edition (Disney Movie Club Exclusive VHS) * May 23 - High School Musical: Encore Edition * June 6 - **''Glory Road'' **''Dumbo: Big Top Edition'' **''Home Improvement: The Complete Fourth Season'' (Touchstone Television) * June 20 - ** Eight Below (DVD) ** The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Disney Movie Club Exclusive VHS) * June 27 - Cow Belles: More Moo-vie * July 18 - The Suite Life of Zack & Cody: Taking Over the Tipton and That's So Raven: Raven's Makeover Madness * August 1 ** The Shaggy Dog ** Eight Below (Disney Movie Club Exclusive VHS) * August 22 - Little Einsteins: Mission Celebration! * August 29 - ** Darkwing Duck: Volume 1 ** TaleSpin: Volume 1 * September 5 - Twitches * September 19 - Stick It (Touchstone Home Entertainment) * October 3 - The Little Mermaid: Platinum Edition (DVD) * October 10 - The Fox and the Hound: 25th Anniversary Edition and Scrubs: The Complete Fourth Season (Touchstone Television) * October 24 - Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior: Kickin' Edition and Hannah Montana: Livin' The Rock Star Life * October 31 - The Wild (DVD and Disney Movie Club Exclusive VHS) * November 7 - Cars (DVD) * November 14 - ** Adventures of the Gummi Bears: Volume 1 ** DuckTales: Volume 2 ** Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers: Volume 2 ** Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Mickey Saves Santa and Other Mouseketales ** Home Improvement: The Complete Fifth Season (Touchstone Television) * November 21 - Alias: The Complete Fifth and Final Season (Touchstone Television) * November 28 - ** Robin Hood: Most Wanted Edition ** The Cheetah Girls 2: Cheetah-Licious Edition * December 5 - ** Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest ** High School Musical: 2-Disc Remix Edition * December 12 - The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe: Extended Edition * December 19 - ** Invincible ** Walt Disney Treasures: Your Host Walt Disney ** Walt Disney Treasures: The Complete Pluto, Volume 2 ** Walt Disney Treasures: More Silly Symphonies ** Walt Disney Treasures: The Hardy Boys - The Mickey Mouse Club Direct-to-video releases * January 3 - ** Stanley's Dinosaur Round-Up ** Disney Sing Along Songs (4 DVDs) * February 7 - Bambi II (VHS and DVD; this was the last Disney film released on VHS for the public, later VHS releases were Disney Movie Club Exclusives only) * February 14 - Disney Princess Sing Along Songs Vol. 3 - Perfectly Princess * March 7 ** Whisper of the Heart ** My Neighbor Totoro * April 25 - Brother Bear 2 (Demo VHS) * June 20 - Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp's Adventure (DVD) * June 27 - Leroy & Stitch * August 1 - ** Disney Learning Adventures: Winnie the Pooh: Shapes & Sizes ** Winnie the Pooh: Wonderful Word Adventure * August 29 - Brother Bear 2 (DVD) * August 31 - Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp's Adventure (Disney Movie Club Exclusive VHS) * September 5 - Disney Sing Along Songs: Happy Haunting: Party at Disneyland * October 19 - Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas (Disney Movie Club Exclusive VHS) * October 24 - Brother Bear 2 (Disney Movie Club Exclusive VHS) * November 7 - Cinderella III: A Twist in Time (Demo VHS) * December 12 ** The Fox and the Hound 2 ** Air Buddies People Births * June 25 - McKenna Grace (child actress) * June 29 - Sam Lavagnino (child actor) Deaths * January 6 - Lou Rawls (soul, jazz and blues singer) * February 24 - Don Knotts and Dennis Weaver (voice actor and actor) * February 25 - Darren McGavin (actor) * February 26 - Dennis Weaver (actor) * March 8 - Rhoda Williams (voice actress) * March 22 - Britt Lomond (actor and producer) * June 28 - Lennie Weinrib (actor, voice actor and writer) * July 13 - Red Buttons (actor) * July 19 - Jack Warden (character actor) * July 20 - Gérard Oury (film director, actor and writer) * July 21 - Mako Iwamatsu (actor) * August 11 - Mike Douglas (singer) * August 13 - Tony Jay (voice actor) * August 28 - Ed Benedict (animator and layout artist) * September 7 - Bernard Wolf (animator and television producer) * September 23 - Tim Rooney (mouseketeer and son of Mickey Rooney) * September 12 - Anita Gordon (voice actress) * October 20 - Jane Wyatt (actress) * October 22 - Arthur Hill (actor) * December 8 - Martha Tilton (singer) * December 12 - Peter Boyle (actor) * December 18 - Joseph Barbera (animator, director, producer, storyboard artist, and cartoon artist) Character debuts * January 27 - Malina, Guaca * June 9 - Lightning McQueen, Sally Carrera, Mater, Chick Hicks, Doc Hudson, Luigi, Guido * July 28 - Todd and Riley Daring, Dick Daring, Agent K * October 2 - Yin, Yang, Master Yo References 2006